This paper summarizes a diverse body of literature on Achievement Place, a community-based program for juveniles in group home settings. The program's Teaching-Family treatment model is described in detail as a base for presenting findings about its ability to change behaviors. Preliminary data from follow-up studies of attempts to extend the…

Paskewicz (1984) believes that the language individuals use conveys information about the possibility of change, independent of content. To test this notion, consultant-consultee verbal interactions were analyzed. Advanced doctoral students in school psychology (N=4) served as consultants; consultees were 19 parochial school teachers each of whom…

This paper briefly reviews the research in social and behavioral interventions with autism in the past 30 years. Progress in the areas of decreased placement in highly restrictive environments, parent training, effective treatments, functional behavioral analysis, and emphasis on improved quality of life is noted. Research needs in the area of…

A functional analysis of eye poking by a four-year-old female with severe developmental disabilities and visual impairments showed that high rates occurred in all conditions. Attempts to identify the maintaining variable found that eye poking decreased only when finger-eye contact was interrupted by blocking the response. (Author/DB)

Following inconclusive functional analyses of problem behaviors in 3 children (ages 3-4) with severe disabilities, interventions based on environmental enrichment were implemented. For all subjects, environmental enrichment decreased aberrant behavior if preferred stimuli were used. Explicit reinforcement of appropriate play behavior was required…

This study investigated the relationship between self-restraint (e.g., entanglement of limbs in clothing or furniture) and self-injurious behavior (SIB) using functional analysis with five males with severe mental retardation. Results suggested that self-restraint, like SIB, may be maintained by idiosyncratic contingencies. (Author/DB)

This study compared differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) and noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) in the reduction of self-injurious behavior in three adult females with severe or profound mental retardation. Both procedures were highly effective in reducing self-injury, with NCR less limited than DRO. (Author/DB)

A self-management approach (utilizing self-counting of behaviors, corrective verbal feedback, and contingent verbal praise) was effectively used to reduce stereotypical body rocking in a congenitally blind young adult. Positive results were maintained, with replacement of overt counting with covert counting and immediate with delayed feedback as…

This study reports on the extent to which pharmacological and behavioral consequences were applied to behavior problems within a population of 31,000 adults in New York's developmental services system. Findings indicated that these consequences were significantly related to variables of intellectual level, residential setting type, type and extent…

This paper discusses the practice of social validity assessment in applied behavior analysis, proposes elements that should be included in state-of-the art assessment procedures, offers a taxonomy of consumers to guide the construction and circulation of assessments, and suggests strategies to improve social validity assessment. (JDD)

Children evidencing conduct disorders comprise the bulk of clinical referrals. Longitudinal studies have found that the prognosis for these children is poor in that the majority exhibit antisocial behavior in adulthood. In order to compare two methods of treatment, relationship-based and contingency management, 53 children (33 boys, 20 girls),…

The study examines the relationship between success upon leaving an alternative school program and immediate measures of program effect. The strength of the relationship was used to determine the degree to which the program effected its long term goals of preparing students for future academic or vocational success. Student success was defined as…

Evaluation of treatment acceptability was conducted with 78 staff members at a community-based residential facility for youth with severe behavior disorders and mental retardation, where the institutional treatment philosophy was explicitly behavioral. Unlike a previous study, in this setting acceptability ratings were not influenced by severity…

The promise of behavioral community research remains vibrant today, but behavior analysts are reminded that there are differences among advocacy, application, and research; there are many forms of research; knowledge alone is often insufficient to foster long-term change; and the complex environments of most community work involve multiple and…

This paper expresses concerns about implementing the behavior analysis values for community intervention expressed by Stephen Fawcett in EC 602 711. Concerns include inclusion of participants in selecting research goals, methods, and outcome measures; research impact on public policy; tension between research requirements and research settings;…